Ancient Legacy
by Jon'ic Recheio
Summary: “Dr. A. MacGyver?” The Major asked, his hazel eyes looking at him curiously. It was obvious that he was not what the Major was expecting. Getting over his shock, the man continued. “I’m Major Davis, Pentagon liaison.” SG1MacGyver COMPLETE!
1. And it Begins

The afternoon sun was hot on his face as he sat out on his balcony. He was one of the few who actually had one and didn't have to share it in this apartment complex. The Gables Apartments were being turned into Condos and if he wanted to stay he had to buy the condo, starting at 150,000. Way too much money for the little box he lived in, that was for sure.

He probably could move into the complex down the street a ways, right next to the Foxhall neighborhood, but then he wouldn't be able to climb through a hole in the fence to get to Publix, and that would suck, majorly. He'd actually have to drive his car there, wasting money on gas that he didn't really have too. But, if he was feeling crazy he could walk the three-quarters of a mile to Publix.

Mac grimaced at the thought. It was too dammed hot to do that in Florida, maybe if he lived in Colorado, or Utah, or Alaska, he could do that, but not in West Palm Florida, no way in hell. He should never have let Sam talk him into moving here. Sky-blue oceans and beaches, yeah right, after you cleared away all the seaweed and sea lice…

Sighing, he levered himself out of his lawn chair and walked into the little apartment, which he only had two more weeks in. Rubbing the back of his neck, he opened the fridge, but couldn't find anything really edible in it. Blowing out a breath, MacGyver reached over and grabbed the phone off of the hook. Pressing the speed dial for one of his favorite pizza places he placed an order.

"Well…" he said to an empty apartment. "Wonder what's on TV?"

Walking back into his tiny living room, Mac fell back onto the couch and turned on the noise box. Chances are, there would be nothing on the TV because there never was anything in the middle of the afternoon. In the middle of his channel surfing, the doorbell rang.

"That was quick." Shrugging he got up off the couch and answered the door. It wasn't the delivery boy. It was three men on his doorstep, Air Force men. "Uh…what can I do for you gentlemen?"

"Dr. A. MacGyver?" The Major asked, his hazel eyes looking at him curiously. It was obvious that he was not what the Major was expecting. Getting over his shock, the man continued. "I'm Major Davis, Pentagon liaison."

"The Pentagon?" Mac squeaked. Davis was struck with a severe case of deja'vu, this man looked _exactly_ like General O'Neill! "Wh-what are you doing on my doorstep?"

Davis hid a smile. If that surprised him, the next bit would send him into orbit. "The President sent me to retrieve you and brief you on a project he thought you might be interested in."

"The President!" Mac's voice raised an octave. "Of the United States of America?"

"Yes, sir." Davis answered, smiling. "We have a limo waiting outside-"

"A limo?" MacGyver's eyes were like saucers. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"Yes, sir, a limo." Davis nodded. "And, no, I'm not kidding you, sir."

Mac shook his head to clear it. "Yeah, yeah. Look, do I have time to pack a bag or something?"

"Yes, but be quick we don't have a lot of time." Major Davis answered. Mac stepped aside and gestured for the Major and his aids to step into the little place.

In a bigger hurry than he had been in a long time, Mac yanked the suitcase down from the top shelf of his closet and pulled open his dresser drawer. Quickly, he began to stuff things inside, running around his room and into the bathroom to get his toothbrush and shaving kit. Stuffing as many clothes as he could into the luggage carrier he zipped it up quickly, and hauled it off his bed with an almighty tug.

All the years I spent packing light! He bemoaned silently. Good grief! Dragging the suitcase on its wheels over to the door he nodded at Davis and gave a breathless, "Ready!"

"Then, lets go." Davis led the way out to the black limo that was parked in the lot in front of his building. Mac followed after the two Lieutenants and the Major, his suitcase dragging behind him. This day was proving to be a long one. There was no way around it.

Mac looked around the limo with wide-eyed curiosity. He hadn't been in many of them, and it was always a fun ride. His gaze settled on the Major who was giving him a strange look. Mac cocked his head to one side in a silent challenge.

"Sorry." Davis muttered. He handed MacGyver the file that was on the seat next to him. Mac reached out and carefully took the file from the man's hand. Leaning back in his seat he opened it and was stunned at what he saw. Top Secret? No way! After reading farther down the page, his astonishment grew. The President wanted him to go work at the SGC?

"Is this real?" Mac waved the file in the air. "Because if this isn't…"

"I assure you sir, it's real." Major Davis replied, a ghost of a smile on his lips. MacGyver gave him a disbelieving look. "Trust me, sir, I've seen it. It's real."

Mac's eyes went wide and he glanced back down at the file. Turning the page he was confronted with an image that he thought he'd never have to see again. There on the page was the photo of a man, who to him, was dead. His breath caught in his throat as he read on, his confusion and hurt increasing as he read. He was supposed to be dead, but he wasn't. Instead he was in charge of a top-secret military base that ran out of Cheyenne Mountain.

"Sir?" Davis had watched MacGyver's face get progressively white as he read the file. "Are you alright?"

Mac's head snapped up. "Uh, yeah, yeah, I'm fine." It was the Major's turn to cast a disbelieving look. "General Jack O'Neill. Who is he?"

"He's a friend of mine and a fine leader." Major Davis answered, his eyes shone with respect for the man that had saved him and the world a dozen times over. "He happens to look a lot like you actually. Do you know him?"

"I did, Major, I did." Mac answered softly, his gaze was set outside of the car window, watching the scenery change as they got onto I-95. The Airport wasn't much farther Mac knew. It would be one step closer to the person that he had thought he lost. The man who had been his cornerstone when everything went wrong.

"If you don't mind my asking sir…"

"What do I mean by that?" Mac finished for him. "It's not important."


	2. Might as Well Go

Howdy folks! This is the second Chapter of Ancient Legacy! And I can promise you that it is better than the first verson, even my brother liked it, go figure!

* * *

"C'min Daniel!" Jack called before said person could knock on the door. Jackson shrugged and walked into the office. The desk was piled high with papers of all different shapes, colors, and sizes. The man in the chair behind the desk had thrown his BDU blouse on the floor in the far corner of the room, and had settled in for the long and tedious job of doing his much-hated paper work.

"Light reading, Jack?" Daniel asked, sitting down in one of the chairs in front of the desk. He could barely see O'Neill's bowed head over all of the stuff on the oak desk.

"I guess." Jack lifted his head up to look at Daniel. "Not that it matters anyway. I don't suppose you're here to talk about SG-1's fourth are you?"

"Jack, we don't need anyone else!" Daniel argued. "SG-1 is fine the way it is."

"Says you." Jack replied. "Trust me, Daniel, you'll like this guy."

"Jack."

"Daniel?"

"We don't need a fourth."

"That's my decision, not yours." O'Neill interrupted the banter before it went too far. He looked back down at his paper work, attempting to locate a file that was buried under all of the mess. After much shifting and rearranging he finally found it. Smirking he handed it to the persistent linguist sitting in the chair in front of him. Daniel cast him a wary glance, but opened the file anyway.

The image on the front page almost made Daniel drop the file. "He looks like you! Hell, it is you!"

"No, it's not." Jack answered smugly. "Pretty darn close though."

"So, what?" Daniel dropped the file back onto the desk. He glared up at Jack. "MacGyver, Jack? This has to be a joke."

"No joke." Jack answered, the smug grin firmly in place. "Trust me, you'll like him."

"Do you know him? I mean you'd have to in order to say that." Daniel probed carefully. His blue eyes never left O'Neill's brown ones, they looked the same as the ones on the paper.

"Yeah, I know him." Jack answered carefully. "Or, at least I did. Twenty-three years ago."

"Twenty-three years!" Daniel's eyes had gone wide, his face a picture.

Jack shrugged. "Yeah."

* * *

The plane ride had been cramped, but they had made it to DC relatively unscathed. The underground lot they pulled into was dark, expect for overhead lights. MacGyver followed behind the Major, the two aids right behind them. They came upon a checkpoint and Mac pulled out his driver's license, as it was his only form of ID that he had on him.

Strangely enough the guard didn't want any ID, after seeing the Major he just waved them through. Beyond curious, Mac stuffed his license back into his pocket and followed after Major Davis, who looked like he'd been down this way a lot. After going through an endless amount of checkpoints, Mac found himself sitting in a chair out side the Oval Office.

The carpet was a navy blue and there was a never-ending line of people and things moving through the hallways. MacGyver watched all of them go by, and he noticed that they all had on some sort of uniform or suit, which was not surprising. Off to the side in the corner of the little alcove they found themselves in was a man with a very dangerous looking gun. He had on sunglasses and hadn't moved once since Mac had arrived.

Shifting his gaze away from the security guard, Mac studied the door to the office he was about to enter. It was disguised into the wall and you wouldn't know it was there if there wasn't a door handle. Suddenly, the door opened and the Major stood up. Mac quickly followed suit and they walked into the Oval Office.

The President was sitting at his desk, and he looked up when they walked in.

"Mr. President." Davis greeted, standing at parade rest.

"At ease, Major." Hayes said smiling. Davis relaxed and Mac felt himself do the same, he had been in the Air Force for a short while after all. "Ah, Dr. MacGyver, glad you made it in one piece."

"Ah, thank you, sir." Mac walked into the office and watched as the President got up from behind his desk and sat down on one of the two couches in the room. They were parallel to each other stationed on opposite sides of the American seal on the floor.

"Sit down, sit down!" Hayes waited for them to do so then began to speak. "Now, I'm sure you're wondering why you're here. Well, you have been assigned to one of the best front line teams the SGC has."

"Sir, if you don't mind my asking, why did you choose me?" Mac bit the inside of his lip to keep himself from saying anything else.

"Well, it wasn't entirely my decision. I merely gave General O'Neill the personnel files." Hayes had an all-knowing look on his face. And it was in that moment that MacGyver knew he was up to something.

Keeping his suspicion to himself, Mac continued. "But, why me, sir? Assuming that you know about our history, why choose me?"

Hayes had to hand it to the man he had guts. He reminded him of the man who looked exactly like him, proving to the US President that they were similar in more areas than looks. It was what he had hoped. After reading the rather amazing file on the man he had sent it to O'Neill knowing that he would choose him, if only to mend some severely damaged fences.

"With your expertise I'm sure you'll be a great addition to the SGC, and the program." Hayes shifted to get more comfortable on the plush couch. "Your unique talents may come in extremely handy in the lab, Doctor."

"MacGyver, please, sir." Mac interjected. "I'm flattered, sir, really, but I've got obligations in Florida that I can't just leave."

"I wouldn't worry to much about them, MacGyver." Hayes humored him by using his last name. "They've been taken care off."

"How so?" Mac was suddenly very suspicious, and it showed. What exactly had Jack gotten him into?

"I merely mean to say that your employer was told you transferred to their satellite location in Colorado." Hayes answered for him; the air of smugness was back, Mac noticed.

Mac sighed, "Yes sir." It was no use fighting it. He was going to be working at the SGC with his bastard of a brother. Great. Just friggin' peachy. And the best part was…O'Neill was going to be his boss. Joy.

* * *

Ha ha! I have done it folks! OKay, I have a total of seven chapters, and as this is pretty much already written for me, all I'm doing is changing what was already there, so it shouldn't be too long before more chapters are made! Please drop me a line and tell me what ya think!


	3. This Ends Now

So, here is chapter three. I have the entire old version written, I just have to add all of the changes to it and fix it up a bit, so basicaly the story is finished, it just needs work, which is what I'm doing...anyway, on with it folks!

* * *

Jack fidgeted nervously in his seat. Mac would be there any minute now, and he hoped that he would be semi-civil in front of his new teammates. Though, he probably could count on him being cold towards him. Not that, that was a surprise, he had earned it after all. It was his own damn fault that his brother hated him, so why should he be friendly or civil towards him?

The accident was entirely his fault, no matter how many times people had said different, no matter what the courts said, it was his fault and he had to live with it. The tragedy that had blown their family apart was his fault, and he hated himself for it. The pain that he had caused would never be forgotten. It was why he was living alone in Colorado Springs. They had hated him and he had just left to get away from it all. He couldn't deal with it on top of everything else.

O'Neill heard the familiar sounds of foot steps coming up the stairs and steeled himself for the confrontation that was sure to erupt. There simply was no way around it. No matter how much he wanted his brother back it would never happen. No matter how sorry he was he would never earn the forgiveness of the person that was most important to him.

Mac walked into the briefing room and froze. He glanced at the big black man at Jack's left, and the pretty blond to his right. There was another man with glasses sitting next to the tattooed man, he seemed friendly, more so than the other two. Major Davis walked in after him and sat down next to the blond woman. Mac swallowed past the lump in his throat and sat next to the man he had come to know in the past few days.

"General." Davis acknowledged.

"Davis." Jack gave a small half smile, but his eyes said different. "MacGyver."

"That's _Doctor_ to you, _General_." Mac said icily. Carter raised her eyebrows. She shared a look with Daniel and Teal'c. MacGyver knew in that moment that they were a tight nit unit and getting into that group would be one of the greatest challenges he faced. He turned to look at Carter. "I don't believe we have met miss…?"

"Lt. Colonel Sam Carter." She answered, filling in the imaginary blank. Mac gave a silent 'Ah', and she was struck at how much he was like the General sitting at the head of the table just watching like he liked to do.

"And you are…?" Mac raised an eyebrow at Daniel.

"Dr. Daniel Jackson." Daniel smiled in greeting. "Pleased to meet you Dr. MacGyver."

"It's Mac, and it's good to meet you too." MacGyver smiled. "And you're Teal'c, right?"

"Indeed." Teal'c answered stoically, his face or voice giving away nothing.

"Right." Jack interrupted. "Now that we all know each other's life stories maybe we should get on with it this briefing."

"I thought the whole point of this briefing was to know each other's life stories?" Mac sniped, his tone held an underlying edge of something that no one in the room could identify.

"You could call it that." Jack answered back just as coldly. "But, I wouldn't, _Doctor_."

MacGyver held in a wince. Damn, if that didn't hurt! And he couldn't for the life of him figure out why. Stuffing his emotions back into the box in his head, he continued. "Sure thing, _General_."

Jack glared at him for a moment, then the briefing began. Mac just sat and listened, for the most part. He was also going to be the Assistant Lab Director as well as the fourth member on SG-1, taking over Colonel Carter's previous occupation as first contact scientist. It seemed that he would have to carry some sort of weapon, but he supposed he could live with a zat, and that was where he drew the line in the sand, as it were. He didn't like guns, not after the accident that had taken his friends life.

Finally the briefing came to a close. Mac pushed up and out of his chair, stretching his back muscles. He had been sitting still to long, resisting the urge to play with the pen that sat in front of him. The reason being that Jack had been taking a part, then rebuilding his own. A habit Mac knew he picked up at school. When the teacher talked on, and on, and on, Jack pulled out his pen took it apart, then put it back together again with out even looking at it.

"So, Mac," Daniel said conversationally, "how exactly are you related to Jack?"

"He's my twin brother." Jack answered for him. "Though, he wishes he wasn't."

"I could say the same about you!" Mac snarled, and suddenly Daniel regretted ever brining it up.

"Really?" Jack asked calmly, his demeanor was steady and controlled, a stark contrast to what was going on inside of him. "I'm not the one who disowned you, _Doctor_, you're the one who made like I was dead!"

"I should have done more than that!" Mac said hotly. "I'm not the one who ki-"

"Don't!" Jack shouted at him. "Don't you dare bring that up, or I swear to God I'll-"

"You'll what?" Mac gestured around wildly. He glared down his brother; the only thing separating them was a briefing room chair. "Kill me too?"

"God dammit, Mac!" Jack shouted, his eyes were like fire, burning a hole into MacGyver. "You're my brother! How could you think so little of me?" His voice tapered off and his shoulders slumped. The fight had gone completely from him. "I'm sorry. I don't know how many times I've said it, Mac, but it's all I have."

"Sorry's not good enough!" MacGyver replied. His face was set in a stone mask. "It never has been!"

"Then why the hell do I even try?" Jack shouted at no one. "God dammit! I did everything you asked of me and nothing seemed to measure up!"

"Then you should have tried harder!" Mac replied angrily.

"What else could I possibly sacrifice for you?" Jack shot back, his tone disbelieving and hurt. "I gave you, all of you, everything that I had! What more could you possibly want?"

MacGyver looked away, unable to face the pain he saw in the other man's face. He didn't know what more could be done, he honestly didn't. The wounds he had thought were healed, obviously were not. They only seemed to get worse every time he thought about it, so he simply didn't. The old saying 'It's darkest before dawn.' Came to mind and he realized that maybe he should have thought on it a little more, then maybe, it wouldn't hurt so much.

"I don't know, Jack! I'm sure I could think of something!" Mac ground out angrily. He regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth though. He watched as Jack's demeanor slumped even more. His eyes looked hollow and dim.

"Then, I guess we really didn't know each other after all." O'Neill said softly, his tone defeated. "I'll see you tomorrow at the1000hrs briefing, Doctor."

With those last words, General O'Neill turned on his heel and walked out of the room and into his office, closing the door softly behind him. Mac stared at the closed door as SG-1 filed out of the room. He could see Jack's form through the glass; his head was in his hands, propped up by his elbows. The only movement was the rise and fall of his shoulders as he breathed.

Letting out a shaky breath he walked out of the room. The only thought in his mind was: What have I done?

* * *

When he was sure Mac had left the briefing room he pushed up out of his chair. Angrily he threw the pen he had in his hand at the wall, watching it bounce harmlessly to the floor. How could he think that of me? How could he think I'm that petty? God dammit! Why did I even think I could fix things between us? He obviously doesn't give a shit! O'Neill sighed deeply and collapsed back into his leather chair.

Why did he have to be so cold? Jack thought, confused. Why does he insist on hurting me even more? I didn't mean for what happened to happen. It was an accident! God, they blamed me, every single damn one of them! I was thrown out, penniless and homeless, my only hope was to join the military, and I did. It only made them hate me more though. I was nothing to them but a murder, who was now being trained in the art.

Blowing out a breath, Jack tried to concentrate on his paperwork, but he kept reading the same paragraph over and over again. It was no use now; he couldn't stop thinking about what had caused his family to hate him. He had tried to rebuild things with Mac once before, it had worked, until he was sent to Iraq and became their newest plaything. When he got back, all of the progress the two had made had been undone.

It was then that he had given up hope of fixing the situation and got on with his life. He'd married, had a kid, and kept on doing damn distasteful things for his country to keep people, like those he had loved, safe. Now he did the same thing, only on a much larger scale, or at least, he had. Now all he did was fly a desk and make all the decisions for people who were too stupid to make them for themselves.

Leaning back in his chair, he ran his hands through his hair in frustration. Why did things have to be this way? Why couldn't he do something right by Mac for once? He was the only thing he had left! Pushing up out of his chair, he left his office and went in search of his brother.

"This ends now." O'Neill vowed.

* * *

So how'd ya like it? Drop me a line and let me know!


	4. Building Bridges

This is chapter four, mates! Read and review, savvy?

* * *

MacGyver looked around his lab. He saw boxes of stuff that he wanted to bring to the SGC. They had sent airmen to pack up the things in his house and bring specific items to his lab. There were three boxes sitting on top of his empty desk and two on the floor in front of it. He knew his state of the art microscope was in two of the boxes, the other three had pictures and other trinkets that would make the place seem like home, since he'd be there almost twenty four seven.

Sighing, Mac got to work on opening and setting up his microscope. Then, when that was done he would look at those samples that SG-4 had brought back. The microscope was in about a million pieces as he pulled out each part and carefully set them on his workbench. He'd taken the thing apart so many times that he could put it back together blind folded.

He was about halfway through when he heard familiar footsteps in the hallway. Stifling the urge to pick something up and hurl it at the wall, he screwed in another bolt on his machine and prayed for patience. Suddenly the footsteps stopped and MacGyver looked up from the mess of parts on his workbench. Jack was standing in the doorway, his hands stuffed casually in his pockets.

It was a familiar pose that sent a stab of guilt straight through his heart and into his gut. The silence was awkward as the two brothers just stared at each other. O'Neill began rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet; a sign, that Mac knew, meant he was nervous.

"So…" Jack blew out softly. "Mind if I come in?"

"Do I have a choice?" MacGyver asked as O'Neill walked into the lab. He watched as he perched himself on one of the stools on the opposite side of the workbench, out of sight from the passer-bys in the hallway.

"Apparently not." Jack said ruefully. "It is my base, after all."

Mac glared at the man sitting casually on the stool like he'd done it a thousand times, which, he probably had. MacGyver eyed his twin with an air of suspicion. "Right." He answered bemused. "So, why are you here?"

"I can't drop in to say: 'hi'?" O'Neill's face was a picture of innocence that Mac did not believe for a moment.

"No." he answered simply. Mac watched as O'Neill suppressed a smirk. Confused, he watched as his brother struggled with something inside of himself, much like he was doing right now.

"Look, Mac," Jack stopped, rubbing the back of his neck, "I…"

"Don't say: 'I'm sorry'." Mac warned quickly. "Because you've already said that enough."

"Then what do you want me to say?" O'Neill asked, his eyes entreating Mac to answer.

"I don't know, Jack!" Mac exclaimed, his hands coming dangerously close to his half built microscope.

"I can't change the past." Jack said softly, his eyes begged MacGyver to understand. "I can't change what I did. But you have to understand Mac! It was an accident! I didn't do it on purpose!" Mac looked away. "You have to believe me!"

"I don't know what to believe, Jack." Mac said softly. "I haven't understood it, and I don't think I ever will."

"I can't tell you what to believe." O'Neill answered just as softly. "But, I can tell you that I miss my brother, and I want him back."

Mac looked up sharply, his eyes wide with disbelief. Was he talking to Jack O'Neill? Master of emotional denial and repression?

"Hard to believe, huh?" O'Neill slipped slowly off his stool. "That a tough murderer like me could need somebody?"

"Murderer?" MacGyver felt something inside of him snap. "Jack, you're not-"

"Really?" O'Neill walked around the workbench.

"Yes, really!" Mac implored. "God, Jack! How could you even think-"

"Because of what you did!" Jack roared back angrily. "Youtreated me like I was, Mac! How was I to think any different?"

MacGyver looked away, guilt overriding his thoughts. God, how could he have been so stupid? How could he have ignored this man's pain like that? How could he have been so cold? He flinched underneath the onslaught of thoughts clouding his mind. He was no better than his brother; he killed one of his best friends, Jessie. He remembered how Jessie's parents had hated him after that. It hurt every time he saw them; they glared hateful daggers at him and told anyone who would listen anymore that he killed their son.

And then he realized that he had been doing the exact same thing. Instead of understanding the pain, he pushed Jack away, hurt him more than his mother or grandfather ever could have. It wasn't Jack's fault the car crashed, no matter what any one said it wasn't his fault that he couldn't reach his father to pull him out in time.

"I'm sorry." Mac said, looking into O'Neill's eyes, his own misting. "God, Jack! I am so sorry!"

Jack knew that he faced a choice. He could throw it all back into his brother's face and ruin any chance they had of fixing this, or he could accept the apology and go on from there, building new bridges and burning old decrepit ones. He settled his eyes on Mac's and spoke. "I know you are, Mac. And so am I."

"You shouldn't be." MacGyver spoke angrily. "It wasn't your fault and the only thing we could do was blame you! You didn't do anything wrong, Jack!"

O'Neill looked away from the fire in his brother's eyes. Maybe they did have a prayer to fix this after all. He looked back into his brother's eyes, his own shining. "So…lunch?"

Mac laughed and hopped off his stool. The microscope could wait, he was hungry!

* * *

Daniel looked up from his lunch of soup and salad when he heard Jack's voice float over from the entrance to the commissary. He and MacGyver were joking and smiling as they grabbed their lunch, each putting something on the other's plate and vice-versa. Confused as to the strange turn of events he watched as they made their way over to SG-1's table to join himself, Sam and Teal'c.

Mac sat down in the chair next to Sam, and Jack pulled one from the empty table next to them to sit on the end next to his brother. "So, Daniel, right?" Mac started, when Daniel nodded he continued. "What exactly do you do here? I only got a single file with the big highlights, it was kinda sketchy on the details."

"He translates stuff." Jack supplied unhelpfully. Mac glared at him for a moment, then turned back to the stunned Daniel.

"So?" Mac asked, taking a bite of his salad.

"Uh, I do what, Jack so helpfully said," That one earned the linguist a glare from the General, " and I'm also the head of the Archeology department, and SG-1's resident archeologist."

"He's the first contact wizard." O'Neill supplied something again. "He waves his hands around and says: 'We come in peace' and then we have a treaty."

"It's slightly more complicated than that, sir." Sam answered with a smirk.

"Believe me, Mac, you'll wish it wasn't." Jack stated empathically. "I had to eat slugs once."

"You're kidding?" Mac squeaked. "Slugs?"

"O'Neill is not 'kidding'." Teal'c answered with a slight smile. "We did indeed have to eat…slugs."

Mac tried to suppress a shudder. "Damn!"

"Are you trying to scare him, Jack?" Daniel sniped. O'Neill shrugged, stuffing his face with macaroni and cheese. Jackson rolled his eyes and continued on with his meal. He watched silently as the two traded more barbs and backhanded complements. It was funny to watch the two of them going back and forth, and it was dizzying at times to, like watching a super fast tennis match.

/So/ Jack felt the intrusion into his mind suddenly, like a quick needle. /Does this thing still work? Hellooo? Jack/

/Stop it/ Jack responded. /That's annoying, like singing in my ear/

/I can sing, ya know./ Mac snarked silently. /Better than you at any rate./

/I'm not denying that…/ O'Neill smirked, and Daniel looked at him confused. What was so funny all of the sudden/Danny's giving me pointed looks, cut it out/

MacGyver rolled his eyes and went back to his lunch, annoying his brother could be done at another time, one when it would be infinitely more fun.

/I heard that/

* * *

Ah ha! Chapter four has been posted, I am now at the point I was before I fixed this puppy up! Please leave a note.


	5. A Little Switcheroo

Okay, I think I finally fixed it! Yay! Here is AL chapter five!

* * *

The night air was cool against his skin as he stared up at the stars from his brother's roof deck. After their brief talk in his new lab, Jack had hi-jacked his luggage and put it in his spare bedroom, making it so MacGyver had to stay at his house instead of some hotel until he got an apartment. The conversation that had followed was a colorful one, the kind that Mac had missed sorely for all of the years he had been away.

In between their silent words in each other's minds and their verbal comments, Jack had persuaded him to stay at the house. Besides the fact that he didn't have to pay for anything but groceries the stay was free. It was infinitely better than paying through the nose for a hotel room, Mac was quiet sure of that. He only hoped he could put up with his brother's company.

There was a loud groan that suddenly interrupted the quiet night. Mac nearly dropped his soda onto the deck as he sprung up from his seat in surprise. Glancing around quickly he didn't see anything, but then he heard another sound, this one a shout in Arabic. Knowing immediately what was wrong he flew down the ladder and into the house, glad that Jack had accidentally left the window in his room open so he could hear him.

Running down the hallway he skidded to a halt in front of Jack's half closed door. Pushing quickly inside he rushed over to the bed and stopped. Jack was tossing and turning violently in the bed, and Mac was debating the wisdom of getting close. Swallowing down the fear of getting slugged or worse, he kneeled on the bed and reached for Jack's shoulder.

"No!" Suddenly, Mac found himself leaning most of his weight on his brother to keep him from hurting him. "Let go! No!"

"Jack!" Mac shouted over Jack's yells and protests. "It's me! Wake up! Jack!" MacGyver didn't see the next thing coming. He was suddenly thrown to the side and clubbed upside the head by Jack's elbow. Blinking the stars from his vision he grabbed a hold of Jack wrists pinning him to the bed. "Get a grip O'Neill! Wake up!"

Suddenly, Jack's eyes flashed open. His struggling stopped abruptly and he looked around his room in a confused daze. "Wha…?"

"Easy." Mac let go of his wrists and sat back, still keeping a comforting hand on O'Neill's shoulder. "S'okay, you're safe, Jack."

"Mac?" Jack mumbled. He slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. "What happened?"

"Nightmare." Mac answered. He rubbed the side of his head, which was aching painfully.

Jack winced. "Sorry." Mac smirked back at him.

"Nothin' new, Jack." Mac replied, wincing again. "But, for that you owe me lunch!"

Jack smiled softly. "Yeah, sure, you betcha!" He looked away from his brother's eyes. "I'm sorry I woke you."

"I wasn't asleep." Mac answered sheepishly, Jack sent him a glare. "I was up on the roof deck."

"Then how did you…?" O'Neill sent him a quizzical look.

"Your window is open halfway." Mac informed him, half smiling, half wincing. "I, uh, heard you."

It was O'Neill's turn to grimace. It was bad enough Mac had come rushing into his room in the middle of the night, but him hearing him? Geez, it was a punch to his ego, that and the fact he had almost knocked him unconscious. He had hurt his brother like that before, and the favor had been returned, but still made him feel guilty.

Mac saw the internal debate and put his other hand on Jack's right shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Jack. How many times have I slugged you because of a nightmare?" Jack gave him a look that was somewhere between angry and amused. "Yeah, I know, I'm blowin' holes in your guilt complex. And my answer to that is, tough."

O'Neill snorted, then smirked. "Yeah, okay, I get it." Before MacGyver could reply, the sound of glass breaking startled both of the twins. There was the sound of something impacting the bed right next to Jack's right thigh. "Oh shit!" O'Neill turned to look at the window, but didn't see anyone, and there were no more shots. His gaze settled on his twin.

Mac's breathing was rapid and slightly shallow. His startled gaze locked with the slightly calmer one of his brother's.

/Jack/ The voice in his mind was shaky. /Wh-what was that/

"I don't know." Jack whispered. He reached into the hole in the mattress. He pulled out a large sniper slug. "Whoever it was, they're good. It was just a warning shot."

/Damn./ Mac was still to confused to speak. It had been a long time since he had been shot at, and it had never been in the safety of his own home, much less his brother's. "Jack, we need to tape up the window."

"We've just been shot at and all you can think is to tape the window?" O'Neill's tone was bemused, and slightly teasing.

Mac shrugged. "I need to be doing something, that was the quickest thing I could think of." Jack rolled his eyes at his brother. "What? Wouldn't you be worried if I had almost got hit by a bullet?"

"Yes!" Jack's reply was quick. "I'd have probably tried to drag you off to the hospital!"

"So, I'm going to fix the window!" MacGyver shot back. "I tend to get a slight bit testy when someone I care about gets shot at! And in the interest of keeping this peace between us, I'm going to do something!"

Jack winced in sympathy. "Sorry. I didn't mean to make you angry, Mac."

"I was already angry!" Mac growled out. "Jesus, Jack! That bullet hit and inch from your leg!"

"You aren't angry." Jack observed calmly. "You're scared."

/Yeah, yeah I am! Because you almost got hurt/ Mac sent Jack a death glare.

/Almost being the key word, Mac. Don't worry, we'll get to the bottom of this./ O'Neill locked eyes with his twin. "I'm not sure I was the target. I think we both were. That bullet went over your shoulder. Judging by the trajectory, it came from my neighbor's tree."

MacGyver nodded mutely. "Okay, now that we know this, what happens next?"

Jack got a dangerous glint in his eyes that Mac knew meant whoever had taken a shot at them was in deep shit. "What we always do when this kind of thing happens, Mac."

"You betcha." Mac's grin was feral. O'Neill grinned back. 'And the fun begins.' He thought.

* * *

FOUR HOURS LATER

After calling in about a dozen markers, Jack and MacGyver were ready for just about anything. Mac had run to the drug store and picked up various items that could be used as weapons or to simply send their enemies into the land of the unconscious in under 0.2 seconds. He had gotten the various drugs under a fake name, as a favor from a doctor friend of Jack's and it was remarkably easy.

Go in as Dexter Fillmore and the guy behind the counter is quite convinced you need them after you leave. Of course, you need a driver, and that had made the visit even more fun. Jack could be quite the convincing chauffeur. He had helped put on the show that had absolutely convinced the man behind the counter, and the people in the store. It took all of Mac's concentration to not crack up laughing in the middle of it all.

After the adventurous trip to the drug store, they had headed to Home Depot to get even more supplies, then to another friend of Jack's for explosive charges, and other weapons that Mac didn't want, but knew they would need. Of course he had put up strong protests until Jack had said they may look real, but they weren't, they were state of the art stun guns that the SGC had retrieved six years ago.

So now they had enough armaments to out fit an army and then some. Not to mention all of the fireworks that they had gotten, to scare the crap out of anyone who decided to come after them. Jack's basement was looking rather full, and Mac felt sorry for his teammates, because if they showed up all of the sudden like Jack was sure they would, then things could get a little hairy.

"Are you sure we have everything?" Mac asked, doing a quick three-sixty. "I mean, I think Home Depot still has a sink that we missed…"

Jack sent him an indignant glare. "You know that we're gonna need most of this, especially considering who we might be dealing with. Of all of the possibilities, Murdoc and a left over Trust agent with a grudge were the biggest possibilities."

"I don't even want to think about Murdoc!" Mac stated empathically. "Geez, if it's him we could be royally screwed! You remember the last time!"

"Yeah, I do." Jack said softly. "It the last time I talked to you, then everything went down the crapper."

"I know." Mac's answer was almost as quiet. "I'm sorry, Jack. I should have been more considerate. You had just gotten back from Abydos, right? I was an ass."

"Yes, you were." Jack agreed with a small smile. "But, the past is done and over, it's better to not think about it, it has a strange tendency to drive you insane."

"I'd drink to that!" MacGyver agreed quickly. "Even though I don't even drink…" he glared at Jack. "Except for those beers you've slipped into my drinks!"

O'Neill smirked smugly. "You gotta admit…it was pretty funny."

"Mom sure didn't think so!" Mac shot back, fighting back a grin. "God, I was so plastered it wasn't even funny!"

"Yes it was." Jack answered bluntly; his smirk was now a grin. "Dalton certainly thought so. It was one of the few times you weren't angry with me at any rate…"

Mac grimaced. He glanced around the little basement again. It really was packed full of stuff, and they'd spent a lot of time installing most of it. "Well, I think we've got everything we need."

"Yeah, me too." O'Neill turned and began walking up the stairs, MacGyver not to far behind him. He opened the door and stepped into his house, shutting it behind his brother. They shared a quick glance then walked quickly to the front door. O'Neill opened it before Daniel could reach for the doorbell. Jackson stood on the doorstep stunned into silence. "Daniel."

"Uh…" Daniel lowered his hand. He eyed the two warily. "Hi, Jack, MacGyver."

"'Morning to you too, Daniel." Mac answered, grabbing O'Neill's arm and pulling him into the house, motioning for Daniel to follow. They walked into the house, their steps cautious. Daniel looked quickly around the living room and spotted a box of fireworks sitting on the couch. It looked to be heavy-duty bottle rockets.

"What's with the fireworks?" Jackson asked as he walked into the little living room.

Jack looked over at Mac, who shrugged. "Nothin', why?" He glanced back over to Daniel.

"Just…curious." Daniel said slowly, carefully walking into the living room. Something was up, his instincts were screaming at him, rather loudly too.

"Really?" Jack followed the linguist farther into the living room, but it had been slightly re-arranged. The coffee and side tables were gone, only the couch was there and it was pushed against the far wall. There we too beanbag chairs up against the wall facing the television, and off to the right of one of the chairs was a small metal table that held to half empty glasses of soda. "What a shock."

Daniel cast O'Neill a look. "See you've been busy re-decorating…"

"Yeah, well, eventually you need change." Jack replied, his tone clipped. /Mac…someone is snooping around outside./

/I know, I feel it too./ Mac walked casually over to the window and looked out. He spotted a shadow at the far end of the lawn, by the neighbor's tree. /I can't make out who yet, they're too far away./

/Damn./ O'Neill gave Daniel a stern look that said not to peruse it. "So, Danny, what brings you to my neck of the woods this time of day?"

"Nothing, really." Daniel answered, his tone was slightly accusing. He glanced over at MacGyver, who hadn't moved from his spot by the window, it was then Daniel realized he was looking for something, or someone. He moved his gaze back to O'Neill. "Jack, what's going on?"

"Daniel…" Before Jack could finish his sentence Mac's shout came through the air.

"Get down!" O'Neill and Jackson hit the deck as a bullet went sailing through the window and over their heads. Quickly, Mac ran over to the duo and hauled Daniel to his feet. "Move it!"

O'Neill had his gun drawn and was running to the front door. He flung it open and was hit with something in the neck. His hand came up and yanked out a tranquilizer dart. "Aw shit." Were his last words before he dropped to the floor unconscious.

"Jack!" Came MacGyver's agonized shout. He raced into the bedroom, Daniel at his heels. Thinking quickly he lit the fuse on a box of firecrackers then was out of the open window hardly giving Daniel a chance to follow. Running quicker than humanly possible, MacGyver came around to the front of the house, Jackson right behind a few precious seconds later.

Mac barreled into one of the would-be-kidnappers just as the firecrackers went off, sending the place into chaos. Two of the four men ran into the house to find the source of the noise, leaving Mac and Daniel to fight off the other two. After a right hook to his opponents jaw, Mac thought it was over, but three more men came flying out of a black van that had suddenly appeared at the end of the driveway.

He ducked away from a hail of bullets, running behind his brother's truck for cover like Daniel had done. They had to get out of there! "Daniel! Open the door and get in the truck! Quick!"

Needing no further encouragement, Daniel quickly did as he was told and found a set of keys already in the ignition. Staying low he started the truck and put it into reverse as MacGyver climbed into the passenger seat, shutting the door behind him. The tires squealed as Jackson backed out of the driveway at break neck speed, almost smashing into the van parked at the curb.

He steered the bulletproof monstrosity out of the neighborhood and out onto the main roads heading for the safest place he knew, Cheyenne Mountain.

"What the hell was that?" He questioned the still heavily breathing MacGyver when he was sure they weren't being followed.

"I don't know!" Mac snapped back. "But whoever they are, they have Mac!"

"What?" Daniel did a double take and looked at the man in the seat next to him very carefully. He had an eyebrow scar. It was Jack! "Jack? What the hell?"

"We switched places." Jack answered wearily. "And you can't tell anyone different! They have to believe they have me, otherwise Mac is in deep shit!"

"What, why?" Daniel pulled onto the exit that would take them to the SGC.

"Because, this way I can do more to find him and catch whoever kidnapped him." O'Neill sighed. "I think it's the same people who have been after us most of our lives. They have never left us alone. I don't know the name of the organization, but they operate like the Trust, outside of the law."

"But why are they after you? And how will making them think they have you help any?" Daniel exclaimed, frustrated beyond his own comprehension.

"They'll underestimate Mac." O'Neill answered. "He has a better chance coming out of this alive, this way, both of us do."

"Underestimate him?" Daniel asked, latching on to this small, but important bit of information.

"They know he's better at escaping with out any kind of weapon than I am. If they think they have me, they'll be more likely to put him in a place with plenty of materials." O'Neill answered as they pulled into the SGC parking garage. "And if they think that I'm him, then it will be easier for me to find him."

"Why?" Daniel asked, stepping out of the parked truck and walking around to the back to finish their talk.

"Because they won't but him in a lead lined room." Jack answered. "All I have to do is search for his energy signature, Mac isn't to good at that, and they know it."

"What?" Jack glared at Daniel, telling him to wait for a better opportunity to discus that particular fact later. "You set them up?"

"Yep." Jack smirked. "And they don't even know it."

* * *

Well, that was the action packed chapter five, hopefully six will be up sooner! 


	6. Enter Ptah

Okay, quick warning! Chapter seven is the last of my prewritten chapters, sorry guys! Hopefully when I see Secret Window on Thursday I'll get some more insperation until then, pray for me!

* * *

TWENTY MINUTES LATER

"Oh f'cryin' out loud!" Mac groused as he woke up tied down in the back of a van. He looked over at his two guards who were watching him like hawks. "Don't s'pose you guys'll tell me where we're goin'?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, O'Neill?" The one taunted. Mac recognized him as the man who was lurking in the shadows of the tree. He was probably the one who shot at them too.

"Yeah, actually." Mac snarked back. "Look, the moment the SGC realizes I'm gone, which is going to be quite soon, your ass is grass."

The other man in the truck snorted. "Yeah right, _General_."

"Daniel and Mac got away." MacGyver pointed out, feeling rather odd when he spoke his name. "You can bet your life that they've already told Carter and Teal'c. Infact, the President probably knows by now."

"Won't do you any good." The sniper spoke with an air of smugness. "We've got a lovely time set up for you when we get to the safe house, O'Neill. You won't even remember who you are by the end of it."

"You're wrong, Ptah." Mac's tone was deadly. "They'll find me, and when they do, you'll be a pile of ashes on the ground."

"You should know by now, O'Neill." The fake American accent was gone, replaced with the man's normal English one. "You can't kill me that way, and neither can _MacGyver_!"

"That's where you're wrong, Murdoc." Mac's tone was hard and his eyes like ice. Murdoc's eyes glowed an eerie yellow as he stared down the masquerading MacGyver.

"We shall see O'Neill," came the distorted voice of the Goa'uld, "we shall see…"

* * *

"Wait, MacGyver, slow down!" Sam interrupted. Three members of SG-1 and Jack were gathered in Carter's lab, Teal'c and Sam were in the dark about the switch that Jack and MacGyver had pulled off, making explaining the whole thing trickier. "Are you saying someone, other than the Trust, or the usual suspects, broke into General O'Neill's house, kidnapped him and are now probably after you?"

Jack winced. "Er, yeah." He looked away from Carter's angry gaze and over at Daniel, his gaze lingered a moment, then shifted back to Sam. "I'm not entirely sure who it was, but I've got a pretty good hunch."

"Who?" Daniel asked, his interest in the conversation renewed.

"Well, the sniper was a man named Murdoc." Jack answered carefully. "He works for an organization called HIT- Homicide International Trust to be exact. Now, I know for a fact that they weren't behind the kidnapping, but a group called New Age hires their men frequently."

"New Age is an arm of the Trust." Carter answered softly. "I just got an e-mail from Agent Barrett two hours ago. He said someone from the SGC was a target, but he didn't know who."

"And you didn't come forward with this information why?" Jack snapped, falling back into General mode for a moment. He got odd looks from Carter and Teal'c and a warning one from Daniel. Carter shifted nervously from foot to foot.

"Because I couldn't get a hold of General O'Neill." Carter sighed. "Barrett instructed me not to give the information to anyone but him, and I decided to go with that assessment, considering who we were dealing with. Trouble was, the General's phone and pager we off and I didn't have a clue where he was."

Jack winced. "We were…out."

"Please explain, Doctor MacGyver." Teal'c requested, his eyes held something akin to anger, but Jack couldn't be sure.

"Uh, well, we were getting supplies."

"Supplies?" Carter and Daniel chorused. Jackson continued. "Supplies for what?"

"So I could go get Jack." Jack answered sheepishly. "I know where he is."

"How?" This time it was Carter who demanded an answer.

"GPS tracker implanted in behind his ear." Jack gave the team an apologetic look. He bit the inside of his lip and risked a glance at Carter. "Can I use your computer?"

Carter nodded, too stunned to speak for the moment. She and SG-1 watched as Jack, aka MacGyver for the moment, sat down at Sam's laptop and went to work. There was a quick bout of typing, then a map came up, more typing and click of the mouse had a red moving dot on the map. He glanced over at SG-1 too see varying degrees of amazement and bemusement.

"There's Jack." O'Neill answered with a self-satisfied grin. "Now we just gotta wait for them to stop and we have 'em."

* * *

ONE HOUR LATER

"So…" Mac trailed off casually. He glanced around his surroundings, which happened to be a cabin-slash-shack in the middle of nowhere. He knew that they hadn't left Colorado; at least, he didn't think they did. He couldn't tell exactly what was in the shack from here, but he knew there were several pieces of machinery and lots of different chemicals, most likely torture materials. "Where, exactly, are we?"

"It doesn't concern you, O'Neill." Murdoc snapped, his eyes glowing again. "But I can assure you that MacGyver will never find you here."

"You'd be surprised." Mac mumbled under his breath. He knew they took the most obvious GPS unit from him, but the one imbedded behind his ear wasn't going to be found with out a detailed MRI scan. "I think he'll find me just fine."

"Hope if you like." Murdoc's tone was deceptively light. "If it makes you think you'll live through this ordeal. Personally, it is always more fun when the subject is resistant, adds a little, shall we say-zest to the whole experience."

"You are nuts," Mac observed, as if for the first time,"totally out of your goddamed mind!"

"I know, isn't it wonderful?" Murdoc let out a horrid sounding laugh. Suddenly his eyes turned cold and he turned to fully face MacGyver. Mac had to repress a shiver at the look in Murdoc's eyes and on his face. The guy looked totally whacked, more so than before, it was down right scary. "You will be dead in the end, O'Neill. And so will that damn twin brother of yours!"

"I don't think so!" Mac shouted back. "You'll be dead, Ptah! And there won't be a damn thing you can do about it! Trust me!"

"Don't waste your breath on me!" Murdoc scoffed, his expression turned to one of annoyance. "Or you stupid military bravado!"

Mac had to repress a smile. Damn he was good at being Jack! It was almost fun! "It's not a waste." He answered belligerently. "In fact I quite enjoy this great rapport we seem to have goin' on here."

The other man that rode in the back of the van stared at the two of them. "You both are nuts." He said under his breath. Murdoc shot him a sharp look and he took it as a command. Shifting his MP-5 to get a better grip he prodded Mac in the back, forcing him to walk towards the little cabin/shack. As they got closer, Mac was able to identify what chemicals were actually in the place. It was a heady cocktail that he knew was for torture, and there wasn't anything else. Besides a broken ride on lawnmower, and old empty weed-whacker. Neither of the machines had any gasoline in them though, putting a serious cramp in any attempt to escape using them.

The man holding the gun to his back grabbed his shoulder to make him to stop some two feet from the door. MacGyver watched as Murdoc input a code and the door unlocked. The assassin pushed open the seemingly normal wooden door and stepped inside. The was the sound of a key card reader, then static and Mac knew the electric pad that lined the entrance had been turned off.

"Get in!" The guy behind him jammed the gun painfully into Mac's ribs and pushed him forward into the little hideaway. MacGyver stumbled over the pad on the floor, but kept himself upright. He spared a quick glance at the guy behind him, then turned his head back to look at Ptah.

The Goa'uld was standing in another room with the door open, facing them with a sinister sneer on his twisted and scarred face. His brown eyes were alight with madness and a hint of rage as he stared down MacGyver. Mac stared stubbornly back and let his anger at Murdoc come to the fore. There was a crackling sound in the shack and Mac glared harder.

The crackling sound grew in intensity and little bolts of electricity were flying around the little shack. Mac felt his eyes cloud with the familiar feeling of using his abilities. Murdoc's face changed to pure rage as he stalked into the main room of the cabin, which was furnished with only a couch and closed circuit TV.

"Don't!" Mac warned as he saw the Goa'uld coming closer. "Come forward anymore and you won't be able to see straight for a week, Murdoc!"

The Goa'uld sneered and drew a zat gun. Mac's eyes rounded and he was engulfed in a stream of blue light before he could react. He felt himself falling to the floor, his body spasming as it was overloaded with electricity. The last thing he saw were Murdoc's cruel eyes above him as the world faded to black. /Jack/

* * *

Well, that was that folks! Again with the next chapter being the last of the prewritten ones, sorry again! I ask for your prayers so I can complete this fic, even thought most it is already written, it's still somewhat taxing! Thank you!


	7. Woodland Rescue

* * *

Hey, and update! It's amazing, I have managed to update this folks! I hope can finish this soon, but I doubt it. But, do not fear, it will be finished.

* * *

/Jack/ the shout echoed in his head and he jumped, drawing SG-1's attention to himself. He looked up at them slightly wide-eyed. They were now in his basement getting ready to go after MacGyver. It was easy for Reynolds to get them authorization from the President once he knew who was missing.

"Mac?" Daniel asked carefully, setting his half-filled flack vest on the ground. "You okay?"

/Mac/ Jack called in his mind; he was met with only stony silence. /Mac! Dammit, MacGyver! Answer! Mac/ He shook himself out of his daze when he heard Daniel trying harder to get his attention. Dropping his pack to the floor he roved his worried gaze around the basement and over his teammates. "I-I think so."

"Dr. MacGyver?" This time it was Carter who spoke.

"Jack's in trouble!" O'Neill exclaimed quickly. "We have to go now!"

"Wait a minute!" Daniel interrupted. "What do you mean? In more trouble than before or something else?"

"More than before." Jack answered. His gaze turned cold. "We have to leave, _now_!"

"Indeed." Teal'c intoned, stopping his teammates from saying anymore. "What mode of transportation have you chosen Doctor MacGyver?"

"My jeep." Jack answered quickly filling his pack and vest with everything that he hadn't already put in. He pulled on the vest and secured all of the weapons and buckles quickly. He lifted up his P-90 and strapped that on as well, his cover be damned. "C'mon, let's go!"

SG-1 nodded in consent and the four of them were out of the house and into the jeep quickly. Carter sat up front with O'Neill, manning the GPS laptop, Daniel and Teal'c squeezed into the back of the roof-less jeep. O'Neill put the car in gear and burned rubber getting out of the driveway. They had at least an hour's drive ahead of them, maybe more. It was going to be a long hour, a very long hour.

* * *

TEN MINUTES LATER

Mac felt himself coming around, as he was strapped to what seemed to be a metal chair. He blinked blearily and realized he was in a completely empty room. So much for Murdoc underestimating him. There was absolutely nothing in his room, not even a light bulb; it was completely and utterly empty. The handcuffs that were fashioned to his hands and ankles held no hope for helping him escape, only to keep him there. Murdoc had certainly out done himself this time.

"How do you like this, O'Neill?" Murdoc gloated when he saw that Mac had awoken. "Not even your twin could get himself out of here, I made sure of that. In case the handy-man gene ran in the family of course, but I don't think it does. However, I've learned better safe than sorry when dealing with the two of you."

Damn, he's right! Mac realized, his thoughts suddenly turning to almost panic. How the hell was he supposed to get out of this one before he ended up dead, or worse?

"Yeah, I suppose you have, Murdoc. Unfortunately for you, I won't be here for long." As he said the words, Mac prayed he was right. He really didn't know if Jack and SG-1 had started after him yet, but he hoped beyond hope that they had.

/Jack? Jack, where are you/

/Mac/ O'Neill's worried voice echoed in his mind. /What happened? Are you okay/

/I'm fine, I'm fine. A little singed around the edges from the…zat, but other wise I'm okay./ Mac glared up at the silent Murdoc to keep him from getting suspicious.

"They don't even know where you are!" Murdoc gloated, the two toned voice of a Goa'uld showing through. "I will you crush you Tauri, both of you!"

"No, you won't." Mac answered calmly, his mind still conversing with Jack. /Murdoc put me in an empty room in a shack in the middle of nowhere. The only things here are two broken machines. A ride on mower and a weed-whacker./

/No gas/ Jack surmised quickly. He felt his brother's mental nod. /Damn. That puts a crimp in our plans. What chemicals does he have lyin' around/

/It's all in syringes./ Mac answered silently, his mind running over a thousand possibilities, none that could help him, however. /Jack, how far away are you/

/About thirty minutes from your location Mac./ MacGyver could feel his brother's worry through their link, it was coming at him in waves. /Just hang on/

/I will./ Mac felt his twin leave their mental room and concentrate more on his driving. Their mental link was getting stronger by the minute. The only thing Murdoc had failed to do was put him in a lead lined room; it was a precious mistake that MacGyver was not going to point out to the Goa'uld.

"What you fail to understand, Ptah," Mac snarled, "is you can't crush me, or my brother. You're the one who's going to buy it in the end, you egotistical bastard!"

"Silence!" Ptah roared, his eyes flashing dangerously. "Whether or not you die is another matter entirely! I do not care if you live or die, only that you break!"

"Good luck, worm!" Mac shot back, his anger real and stronger than he'd felt in a long time. Standing in front of him was the reason he and Jack had been strangers for twenty-three years, he had just come to realize it. "You'll need it."

* * *

"Damn!" Jack cursed for the hundredth time in the past few minutes. "We're moving to slow! There has to be another way there!"

"I'm sorry, Doctor, there isn't!" Sam snapped back, getting fed up with his frequent requests for a different route than the rocky, bumpy, and muddy one that they were on.

"There has to be!" O'Neill argued back, snatching the laptop from Carter's hands. She glared indignantly at him, but said nothing. Jack looked carefully over the map and realized that she was right, but they were only one mile from the shack. He handed her back the laptop with out looking and hit the brakes, the jeep came to a screeching halt, sending mud flying up onto the hood. Mac was gonna kill him. "Doesn't matter now, we walk from here."

"Walk?" Daniel voice was incredulous. "You've got to be kidding!"

"No, not kidding." Jack jumped out of the passenger side and onto the muddy road. The mud came up a little higher than the soles of his boots. "Mud's, not to bad." He walked around to the back of the jeep and pulled out his gear not waiting for his teammates. He'd do this alone if he had to, it didn't matter, as long as the end result was Mac was safe.

"Oh, that makes me feel so much better!" Daniel mumbled under his breath as he climbed out of the jeep. He reached over the seat to grab his gear and quickly pulled it on, Teal'c had already geared up and Sam finished when he did.

"Okay, follow the road; don't walk on it, kids." Jack ordered as they set off along the side of the road towards the cabin. /Mac/

/Jack/ Mac's answer echoed in O'Neill's mind. /How far are you/

/We had to ditch the jeep, Mac. We'll be there in about ten minutes./ Jack stepped over a fallen log and kept on going like it was never there. He was moving at a fast pace that only Teal'c had no problem matching. /How are you holdin' up/

/He hasn't tried anything yet, but then he thinks he has all the time in the world./ MacGyver's answer held a note of fear that Jack picked up on quickly.

/Yeah, well, contrary to what he believes, he doesn't. I'll be there Mac, even if I have to ditch the gear and just run./ O'Neill was contemplating doing just that and going in a head of SG-1 and use them as backup instead.

/Don't/ Mac's warning was loud in his mind and almost made him wince. /That's a very bad idea! He has a key code on the front door, its 666, go figure. However, once you get inside you only have a foot of clearance before you step on the shock plate that is unavoidable. It's deactivated by key card. There is also a number of laser light alarms scattered around, those I don't know how to turn off, but they line all of the windows./

/Sweet./ Jack's voice was noticeably sarcastic. /So we have to jump/

/No, you don't understand, it lines the entire floor/ Mac answered, his voice sounding desperate all of the sudden. /Jack! Get your ass here quick/

/Mac? Mac/ Jack doubled over in pain all of the sudden, it was a pain he remembered clearly. A Goa'uld pain stick! Damn!

"Mac?" Daniel rushed over to help his friend, only to pull his hands away as if shocked. "What in the hell?"

O'Neill gasped, then pushed himself up right as the pain faded. "Damn, if that didn't hurt!" Thinking quickly, he dumped his pack onto the floor, leaving himself with only whatever was in his vest and his P-90.

"What are you doing?" This came from Carter as she watched him drop his heavy gear.

"I'm rescuing my brother!" Jack snapped back. He glanced at his team behind him, then took off running. He could hear their shouts for him to wait echoing behind him, but soon he was out of hearing range. He pumped his legs as fast as he could, watching as the scenery blurred by as if he was in a racecar. He had to run faster! With a great burst of speed that came from nowhere, Jack launched himself even further, coming to a stop at the tree line in front of the cabin in seconds.

"Nice." He murmured to the trees. Looking around, he spotted one guard buy the front door, but that was it. Murdoc was obviously not expecting visitors. He could sense the Goa'uld in the same room as MacGyver and flinched. He had to get in there, and fast. What seemed like the Blood of Sokar was getting closer to Mac, and so was Ptah. "Shit!" Thinking quick, Jack pulled the pin on a grenade and threw it at the guard by the door.

It landed at the unsuspecting man's feet and blew up in his face, obliterating the front door in the process. Smirking, Jack pushed to his feet and ran quickly and quietly over to the door. He peered around the corner to see another door and metal plate that covered the entire floor. "Damn!" he cursed quietly. "Mac wasn't kidding!" He picked up a piece of the dead guy's keys and threw it at the plate; it sparked, and continued to spark as it rested on the plate. "Well, shit."

The door suddenly flung open and Murdoc stormed out spotting him immediately. There seemed to be a two-foot clearance in front of both doors from the shock plate. And Murdoc had the key to turn it off in his hands. Grinning triumphantly Jack reached out his hand and willed the card into it. Ptah's eyes went wide with shock as the key card flew across the room and into Jack's hands.

"Gotcha, worm!" Jack gloated from across the room. He slid the key card into the reader and the sparking stopped. Tossing the card to the side he stepped out onto the plate, his gun raised and aimed at Ptah's neck. "Don't move or I'll kill you."

"You don't use guns, MacGyver!" Murdoc gloated.

"I'm not MacGyver." Jack answered. Murdoc looked at him as if he was nuts. To the Goa'uld he sure looked like him! His hair was longer, but not as long as it was before it went slightly gray. It was longer than O'Neill's military cut, and spiked up on top.

"You're lying!" Murdoc's eyes went wide with something akin to fear, but not quite. His eyes flashed angrily. "You are MacGyver; Jack O'Neill is sitting in the other room handcuffed to a chair!"

"No, he's standing right there." Murdoc whirled around to come face to face with MacGyver. The man in question held up his melted handcuffs. "I broke 'em, sorry."

"You can't be serious?" Ptah's Goa'uld voice sounded slightly odd at a higher octave.

"Dead serious." This one came from the man in the doorway. His eyes had darkened to solid black, as had his twin's. "You die, here and now."

Ptah let out and inhuman roar just as Jack pulled the trigger. A bright flash of light erupted and the bullet impacted harmlessly against the wall. The place where the Goa'uld had been standing was disappointingly empty.

"Dammit!" Mac cursed, his eyes still a deep obsidian color. "I thought we had the rat bastard this time!"

"Nice mouth." Jack comment with a grin that was more of a grimace. "Can I have my hair cut back now? Yours itches!"

MacGyver broke out with laughter, but nonetheless walked over to his twin and put his right hand on O'Neill's temple. Jack copied the action and a bright cream-colored light surrounded the two for a few moments then faded away. Jack looked back at the familiar sight of his brother, with his normal haircut. Their eyes quickly resumed their natural brown color as well.

"Better?" Mac quipped with a smile.

"You bet." Jack answered with a grin. Just as he turned around his team came rushing into sight. Carter had her gun raised and Teal'c's staff weapon was armed.

"Kids!" Jack called out. "I got 'im!"

"I thought he was supposed to get you, sir?" Carter asked as she stepped into the little cabin.

"We switched places." Mac and Jack chorused. They glared at each other in mock anger and said nothing else. Jack swung his arm up and onto Mac's shoulder, dragging him closer. MacGyver let out an indignant squawk, but didn't do anything except put his arm on Jack's shoulder.

"You did!" Carter's tone was surprised and confused all at once. "How?"

"Long story." Jack answered. "I'll tell ya later."

/Yeah, right/

/Sure I will/

/Whatever, Jack./

* * *

I'm a national hero! This is the end of chapter seven, please leave a review! Even if I don't deserve one... 


	8. Trouble in Paradise

Oh my good Lord! An Update! And guess what folks? I finished the story. I'll post the last two chapters tomorrow and the day after that.

* * *

TWO HOURS LATER

SG-1 was gathered in SGC briefing room for the explanation that had been promised to them at Murdoc's shack. Mac was standing in front of the great glass window that looked out at the Stargate. O'Neill stood beside his twin, a strange expression on his face. Teal'c had chosen to stand off to the right side of the twins, his gaze locked on their backs. Carter and Daniel had sat themselves in two of the briefing room chairs and had refused to move until everything was explained.

MacGyver spared a quick glance to his left at his brother. Jack was leaning slightly forward with his hands resting on the small concrete window sill. He didn't look very happy.

/Jack?/

/Ye-es?/

/How exactly do you want to play this?/

/No idea./

Mac snorted, causing Carter and Daniel to give him a funny look.

"What's going on?" Daniel asked, finally having enough of the tense silence. "I don't understand all of this, neither do Sam and Teal'c. So please, if it doesn't cramp your style too much, explain it to us!"

Jack and MacGyver shared and easily read look that said: 'You go first! No-you!'. Their eyes remained locked for a few seconds before Jack sighed and shifted where he stood, it was obvious he lost the silent argument. He looked back over at Carter and Daniel, every time he started to say something, he stopped, unsure of exactly what to say.

"Look, it's not important, alright?" O'Neill answered finally, shifting his stance to face his team fully. Mac's action mirrored his.

"Yes, it is, Jack." Daniel answered in a strained tone. His blue eyes were like steel, he wanted answers and he wanted them now.

"No, it's not." Mac interjected. "If you don't know anything, you stay safe, end of story. Too many people have died over this. You and SG-1 do not need to be added to the list."

"Died?" Carter managed to ask in the uncomfortable pause. "Who…?"

"Our dad." O'Neill answered in a monotone. He looked Carter square in the eye. "He's dead because I couldn't get to him in time. I did something I shouldn't have and he died because of me."

Mac remained silent through this entire story. He hadn't realized it before, but the subject was still a sore spot in his heart. Despite what he'd said to Jack, he still felt his brother should have been able to do something. He himself should have been able to do something, dammit! But he couldn't because of Jack's stupid mistake.

"How did he die, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked carefully.

Mac sucked in a quick breath at the question. He knew it was only natural for one of them to ask, but he'd wished they hadn't. Going over those memories again, even if he wasn't the one telling the story, would be painful. It would hurt. And he didn't want to hurt right now. He wanted to go on not thinking about it, like he always had.

"He…" O'Neill let out a long breath. He continued in a strange detached tone, his face eerily blank. "He died on his way to the drug store. But, he went because of me. I…did something I wasn't supposed to do, something I wasn't old enough to do, and I got sick. Very sick. I think was unconscious for two days. But, because I was stupid, my dad's dead. So there. Question answered. Happy now?"

Daniel's brow furrowed. "I know I probably shouldn't ask this but…what did you do?"

"Nothing you need to know!" Mac snapped. His eyes were hard, and showed nothing. "You don't need to know, Dr. Jackson. Or you'll be dead. Like everyone else before you who learned the knowledge you're after. Stop while you're ahead, while you still have your head!"

"What's going on here?" Carter questioned, her anger finally getting the best of her. "You've been dancing around this issue because of our safety, or so you say. But, I have news for you. We're grown adults! We can take care of ourselves! And, further more, you are our friends! You don't need to fight this on your own! Let us help. Please."

"No." O'Neill answered, his tone left no room for argument. He settled his icy gaze onto Carter. "You have been ordered to not interfere, as of…now. So please _Colonel_, for the sake of your career, don't say another word."

"That was underhanded, O'Neill." Teal'c answered for Sam, who was too stunned to speak. "That was not the correct way for a warrior to treat his friends. You should not have done that."

"Who are you to tell me what I can and can't do, Teal'c?" O'Neill asked fiercely. "Carter said it herself. We're all adults here."

"Some would disagree." Daniel sniped. He leveled his heated blue gaze on the twins. "You've both been acting like stubborn children! What are you afraid of? We live in a mountain three hundred feet below the ground!"

"No, you live in an apartment last I checked." Mac answered back, annoyed. "You drive a car to work, am I right? That means you buy groceries, you get gas, you go to the movies or out to dinner, or even the library! Think for a second, do you really live in this mountain?"

"Now who's the kid?" O'Neill smirked, and Mac glared over at him. He looked over at his twin. "What?"

Mac sighed and rested his forehead to the fingers of his right hand. "I was on a roll, but no, you had to screw it up!"

"Me?" Jack's tone was incredulous. "What the hell did I do?"

"'_Now who's the kid_?'" Mac mocked. "Oh yeah, brilliant Sherlock! Absolutely genius!"

"Now who's not helping!" O'Neill snapped back, his patience was completely and utterly spent. "This is not my fault! Not this time, Mr. Wizard! You helped get us into this mess; you're going to help get us out of it!"

"I'm sick and tired of rescuing you!" Mac roared back.

SG-1 watched on, completely forgotten and stunned into silence.

"I'm done saving your ass!" Mac continued hotly. "I've pulled you out of too much crap to have to do this anymore! You're on your own, buddy!"

With those last parting words, MacGyver shoved past his twin and out of the briefing room. His angry metallic steps echoed in O'Neill's ears long after they had disappeared. He simply stood, staring unseeingly at the carpet floor beneath him. He'd done it again. He couldn't believe it. Mac was gone. He lost him. He was gone.

"Jack?" Daniel asked, quietly pushing himself out of his seat to stand next to his friend. "Jack?"

Carter and Teal'c shared a quick a look and walked over to join Daniel. The three teammates were suddenly worried for their friend. Answers to their questions would have to wait. Some things were far more important.

"O'Neill?" Teal'c intoned quietly.

Jack suddenly jerked his head up to look at his former teammates. His eyes were blazing with an anger that almost made Teal'c take a step back. Daniel and Carter suddenly did just that.

"Do you realize what you just did?" O'Neill asked painfully slow. "He's gone and it's your fault. You should have kept your goddamn mouths shut!"

In the stunned silence that followed, O'Neill stormed out of the briefing room and down the metal staircase, making an unholy amount of noise as he did so. He had to find Mac, and he had to find him. Mac didn't mean it. He couldn't have meant it. It wasn't true. He wasn't alone. He wasn't.

* * *

"Mac?" Jack pushed through the trees that made up the forest that surrounded the mountain. He had to find his brother. /Mac? Where are you?/

When no answer came, O'Neill stifled a growl and pushed faster through the trees, flashlight in one hand and his other ready to go for his gun. Anything could be out here with Mac. Things tended to happen around the two of them. The path that he was following wasn't well used, but he knew Mac had passed through this way.

Though, he wondered why his brother had gone off at him like that. What did he do? Add stress to an already stressed situation? Yes. But that's who he was and Mac had never really made such a big deal of it before. There had to be something else. The subject matter? Most likely. If that was the case, it meant Mac had lied to him.

He wasn't sorry after all.

That thought hurt more that the others did. Why would MacGyver lie to him about something like that? What was the point? Unless he wanted something. But, Mac wasn't that kind of person. He didn't lie to people like that to get what he wanted. No, Mac would have told the truth. He had never hurt someone that way as far as Jack could remember. It had to be something else.

"MacGyver!" Jack shouted again, praying for an answer. "F'cryin' out loud, Mac! Answer!"

"Why?"

O'Neill jumped, and spun around to see his twin standing in the path behind him. He let out a breath and relaxed his sidearm hand.

"Why should I answer?" Mac continued, his eyes glinting in the moonlight that filtered through the trees.

"Because I was looking for you?" Jack suggested sarcastically. "Maybe because, I was worried about you? Do you have any idea what could have happened?"

"Like what?" Mac asked acidly. "Ptah coming and doing your job for you? I doubt it."

"That was low." O'Neill ground out. His eyes flashed. "You know that's not true! What the hell's the matter with you?"

"I could ask you the same question!" was Mac's angry retort. "Where the hell do you get off thinking things are back to the way they were before?"

"I thought they were!" O'Neill's face showed hurt, but was quickly masked by anger. "You said you forgave me, Mac! Furthermore, I hadn't done anything in the first place! For once, I was the innocent party! If anyone owes anyone an apology, it's you!"

Mac winced and looked away. He took in a deep breath, then spoke. "It doesn't matter. We can't seem to keep the peace between us anyway. I should go."

"No!" O'Neill said sharply. He walked over to his twin and spun him around so he could look into Mac's eyes. "You aren't going anywhere!"

"Why not?" Mac threw Jack's hands off his shoulder. He glared angrily at his brother. "I don't owe you anything! I don't have to be at your beck and call every time something goes wrong!"

"There you go again!" O'Neill threw his hands in the air in exasperation. "What's the matter with you? When have I ever forced you to do anything for me? And when was it all my fault?"

Mac's jaw clenched in anger as he stared down O'Neill. /I've gotten more people out of more jams than you could think of! I'm sick and tired of being everyone's hero! I'm not a magic rabbit you can pull out of a hat and have it pull off the impossible!./

"I never said you were." O'Neill answered softly. /Jesus, Mac. I'm not trying to use you, I'm your brother. What ever gave you that impression?./

Mac breathing was harsh as he looked straight into O'Neill's painfully honest eyes. He didn't want to fight anymore. He didn't. He didn't want to think about his parents, he didn't want to think about Ptah. He didn't want to run. He wanted it all too just go away and never come back. He wanted to live his life in peace and never have to save the world in sixty seconds ever again.

/It doesn't matter. I'm tired Jack. Tired of this, tired of fighting! I'm done! I can't do this anymore!./

"Then don't." Jack answered simply. "Go back into the mountain; find the nearest bed and sleep. I'll finish up with SG-1. I've made a mess of things with them that I need to clean up."

"What?" Mac looked up from his scrutiny of the forest floor. "What did you say?"

"Nothing important." Jack swallowed. "I'm sorry for hurting you, again."

"You've nothing to be sorry for." Mac said softly. "You're right. I should be the one to apologize. God! What would dad think if he could see us like this? He'd probably knock our heads together!"

"Probably." Jack smirked. He looked around the moonlit forest. "C'mon, let's get inside and out of here before something happens."

"I agree." Mac smiled and the two walked down the path back towards the SGC.

* * *

Sean A. Malloy looked out of the balcony of his father's apartment. Not the greatest view in the world, but he could vaguely see City Place off in the distance. When his Dad hadn't returned his call in the last two days, he'd gone to Florida to see what was wrong, only to find an empty apartment and no clue to where he Dad had gone.

"Where are you?" He questioned the air softly. "What's going on Dad? Why did you move out of your house for no apparent reason at all?"

"Don't know the answers to your own questions?" Sean spun around to find a man with blond hair and blue eyes standing in the entry way to the balcony. He had a slight English accent and didn't look at all trustworthy. "Perhaps I can help."

"And, how, exactly, do you plan to do that?" Sean asked carefully.

The man's smile was feral. "Like this." Before Malloy could duck, the butt of a gung impacted with the side of his head. He was out for the count. "I have you this time. For sure, MacGyver. For sure."

* * *

Holy frakin' crap! The end of chapter eight. Stay tuned in the next few days for chapter nine and the final chapter ten. They are finished and are being edited. I'm so proud! I finished the story last night. And ya wanna know somethin'? Chapter has been sitting on my harddrive for a while and I didn't even know it! Sorry 'bout that! But anyway, review!


	9. Set It Off

Hey, guys! Chapter 9 is here for your viewing pleasure. Stop in tomrrow around the same time for the final chapter and long awaited conclusion to this story of mine. Please drop me a review.

* * *

Daniel looked up from his inspection of the table when he heard two sets of footsteps on the metal stairs that led up to the briefing room. He and SG-1 had decided not to leave, hoping that Jack and MacGyver would return with answers and apologies. In this very moment, he was praying that he was right.

Sam and Teal'c shared a brief look when O'Neill and Mac appeared in the doorway of the briefing room. The twins stood there fidgeting for a moment, neither of them sure of exactly what to say, Jack most of all. He was the one who'd blamed SG-1 for something that was his fault in the heat of anger. He was the one who'd screwed up the most in this situation.

"Well?" Daniel asked, the uncomfortable silence finally getting to him.

"I, uh…" Jack's voice dropped out from under him. He cleared his throat and tried again. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said what I did."

"Apology accepted, O'Neill." Teal'c intoned for the three of them.

"Thanks, Teal'c." Jack gave him a quick, small, smile. He blew out a breath and turned to Daniel. "Before you ask any questions, don't. I don't have the answers."

Before Daniel could reply, the phone in General O'Neill's office rang. He and Mac shared a quick glance, then Jack walked swiftly into his office. Jack grabbed the phone on its third ring and put it to his ear, a strange and bad feeling filling the pit of his stomach.

"O'Neill." He spoke into the receiver.

"Oh, good. I'd hoped you'd be the one to answer." Murdoc's fake cheery voice filled Jack's ears, making him wince. "Now listen carefully because, unfortunately for you, I'm only going to say this once. I have MacGyver's boy. You do as I say here and now, and he may just live through all of this. I want you to meet me at the old farmhouse just on the border of Utah and Colorado. I trust you know which one. Bring MacGyver and no one else or the boy dies."

The phone call was ended with an abrupt click that left Jack stunned. He stood there for several moments with the phone still held to his ear. Slowly, he set the phone back down in the cradle and walked out of the little office. He stood behind the chair at the head of the briefing table and didn't say a word.

"Jack?" Mac questioned quietly. "Was that who I think it was?"

"Yes." O'Neill answered simply. He sucked in a breath. "Murdoc has Sam."

"What?" Mac exclaimed. "You've got to be joking! He can't possibly have Sam!"

"No, really?" Daniel snapped. "She's standing right here!"

"Wrong Sam." Jack answered tonelessly. "Sean A. Malloy. Mac's son. His initials are S-A-M."

There was a profound silence in the room after this announcement. Each person was running over possible scenarios in their minds, but none could be worse than Mac's. It was his son after all. His poor innocent son who'd been dragged into something he'd hoped he never would. The poor kid didn't deserve it, but it seemed everyone close to him was prone to getting sucked into his problems.

He couldn't remember a friend or a family member that hadn't gotten hurt because they were around him. He could definitely say that Pete Thornton and Jack Dalton had gotten kidnapped, beaten up, shot at and generally mistreated because someone wanted revenge on him. The amount of times Murdoc had used the two of them to get to him was mind boggling.

There was something to be said for being his friend. You had to be, brave, insane, or totally arrogant. You had to be the stupidest person on the planet to even want to be near him. Everyone that had ever cared about him and everyone Mac had ever cared about had been hurt because of him, or by him, at least once, if not more. And now, his son had just joined the long list of casualties.

"Stop thinking like that!" Mac jumped when he heard Jack snap the words at him. "You know it's not true, Mac! It wasn't ever your fault! You had no control over Murdoc, or Deborah, or any of the others who tried to screw you over through your friends!"

"But what about Mike?" Mac's eyes were hollow as his voice. "I hurt her, and she's dead because of it! Because of me!"

"That's bullshit and you know it!" O'Neill snapped, getting angry. "The line tore, it wasn't your fault! You didn't take a knife and cut it did you?"

"No." Mac answered softly.

"Didn't think so." O'Neill looked his brother in the eye. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself and help me rescue _your_ son."

"Are you saying the man who had Dr. MacGyver before, now has his son, sir?" Carter asked her blue eyes wide.

"Yes, Carter, that's exactly what I'm saying." O'Neill sighed and ran a hand through his hair. What he wouldn't give for an Asgard transporter at the moment. He could just lock onto Sam and beam him straight into the briefing room. But, alas, he didn't have one. "Look, Mac, we'll get him back."

Mac nodded, his arms were crossed over his chest and his gaze was locked to the floor. He wanted to wring Murdoc's scrawny Goa'uld neck, but sadly, his neck wasn't in the vicinity. So, he settled for keeping his arms crossed and his mouth shut for fear of doing something incredibly stupid. Like, hitting the person who was standing closest to him, or even better, setting them on fire and watching them burn. That's how he wanted Murdoc to die. He wanted him to burn. Burn until there was nothing but ashes left of the bastard.

Jack seemed to be aware of his thoughts, because he tensed up, as if he was ready to pounce on his brother and wrestle him to the ground if he decided to do anyone of the things that occupied his unusually dark thoughts. Mac knew he would. O'Neill would probably knock him out if he thought he was a threat. Mac knew that from experience.

"Mac?" Jack asked carefully. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." Mac managed to say. His eyes seemed to be on fire almost. "I've had enough of this. Murdoc is a dead man, whether he knows it or not." Mac looked O'Neill in the eyes. "Let's do this."

* * *

It was going to be sweet. That much he knew. MacGyver and O'Neill would be dead, his reputation would be restored and he would destroy the SGC and everything it stood for! He would be the next all powerful Goa'uld System Lord. He would be a God among fools. Murdoc's face twisted into a sneer and he kept his eyes focused on the barn door. In a few hours, O'Neill and MacGyver would come bursting through demanding that he release Sam.

As if that would ever happen. Murdoc's sneer turned to a cold stare as he turned to look at the young man tied up in the corner by several bales of hay.

"You, your uncle and your damn father will be dead before sunrise, Mr. Malloy!" Murdoc shouted at him. He turned his cold stare back to the barn door. "I can guarantee it."

* * *

Thanks for readin' chapter 9. The final chapter will be up tomrrow. So, please, be nice to me one more time and leave a starving writer a review!


	10. And Thus It Ends

All the angels in heaven rejoice as one! This is the LAST chapter of Ancient Legacy. Read and enjoy!

* * *

Daniel gave a quick glance around the airport tarmac. Jack had managed to get them a plane. How, he wasn't sure, but he knew that they now had a way to reach Malloy in under three hours. He supposed he was grateful for it. It meant no waiting in line for tickets or trying to get a flight on a commercial airline. Instead they had a six passenger Cessna plane than Jack could land in a large open field if he so chose.

"So, Jack," Daniel asked, increasing his pace to match his friend's, "how do you plan to do this, exactly?"

"Easy." Jack said tersely, doing a quick once over of the plane. "Land about a mile from the farm and walk from there. Hopefully that's far enough away that Murdoc won't hear the engines, but you can never be sure."

"No, we can't." Mac sighed, running a hand through his hair. He opened the door to the co-pilot's side. "How many times have I sat on this side of the plane?" he muttered to himself, climbing into the seat.

Carter opened the passenger door. "Right. I guess we better get going."

"Yeah." O'Neil climbed into the pilot's seat. It was going to be a nerve wracking flight, that much was certain.

* * *

TWO HOURS LATER

O'Neill checked the instrument panel of the plane briefly, then focused his eyes on the open plains below. They needed to land now or they'd be spotted. Chances were; Murdoc was inside the farm keeping an eye on Sam. The man was too paranoid with any of Mac's family to not. He watched them like a hawk and usually stuck them in an empty room. It had happened to him enough times to be certain of it.

He pulled back on the throttle and prepared to land the plane. They had plenty of open field to land on, but it would make sneaking up to the farm difficult, as there was no place to hide. Just miles and miles of tall grass and flat land. It rather sucked but he supposed they would just have to cowboy up and get over it.

"Okay…" Jack carefully set the plane down and waited as it came to a slightly bumpy stop. He leaned back in his seat and drew in a deep breath. "This is it kids."

With that, he switched off the plane, unbuckled his seat belt, then opened the door and stepped out. Mac copied his actions and walked around to the front of the plane. He shared a look with his brother. They could do this. They would do this. Sam would be safe, Murdoc would be dead and finally they could rest.

"Now what?" Daniel asked, coming around with Sam and Teal'c to the front of the plane.

"Now, very carefully we walk towards that old farm." Mac pointed too a large wooden barn in the distance.

"Why here?" Carter asked as the group began the mile or so walk towards the old barn.

"Because this was the last place Jack and I were civil towards each other." Mac answered ruefully. "Murdoc has a flare for the ironic."

"Yeah, I noticed." Daniel muttered darkly. He glanced around. "Where exactly are we?"

"Somewhere near Cheyenne, Wyoming." Jack answered, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "We're lucky it's the middle of summer. If it wasn't we'd be in for seventy mile an hour winds."

Daniel let out a low whistle. "Damn."

After that, there wasn't much by way of conversation. Even Jack and MacGyver were silent as they walked closer and closer to the old barn. This time, it wasn't just a neutral meeting place from their childhood, it was a war zone. Someone very important to the both of them was being held inside, and the man responsible wasn't going to live to see the rest of the day.

Fifteen minutes later, they were dangerously close to the old barn house. Jack signaled SG-1 to wait around the back and he and MacGyver walked up to the front door. Which, was effectively booby trapped. Unless the C4 he was sensing was his imagination.

/It's rigged./ Jack informed Mac silently.

/I noticed. Any ideas on how?./ Mac sent back, silently contemplating the double wooden doors.

/Yep./ Jack pointed to a well hidden trip line running along the bottom of the door. /He has to know that won't stop us./

/He does, it's his warning alarm./

/Ah./

Very carefully, Mac lifted up the wood bar blocking the entrance to the door, all the while trying not to trip over the tripwire. He inched it out of the slot slowly then set on the ground behind himself. He and Jack shared a look then the two of them pushed open the barn doors. The inside looked strangely like it had been in use, but both brothers knew it hadn't.

/Murdoc likes decorating?./ Jack asked silently as the two stepped over the wire and into the barn.

/I guess./ Mac answered distractedly, frantically scanning the inside for his son.

"Jack?" A soft voice asked from the doorway. Jack spun around to see Daniel.

"Danny!" Jack hissed. "Don't take another step! Stay outside!"

"Why?" Jackson snapped back in a harsh whisper.

"Tripwire and other things you can't avoid. Tell Carter and Teal'c to stay put too!" O'Neill gave Daniel one last glare then walked a few steps to catch up to his brother.

There, he felt it. Sam.

/Mac…/

/Yeah, I know, up on the top level./ Mac stopped and focused his gaze up at the top.

"Alright, Murdoc, I'm here!" He shouted his anger and desperation dangerously close to ruling his judgment. "Come out and stop playing these damn games! I'm sick of this! You want to fight me? Do it face to face you coward!"

"I like games, MacGyver." Mac whirled around to see Murdoc walking up behind them.

Jack's jaw clenched. "One more step forward and I'll fry your ass."

Murdoc let out a slightly crazed laugh. "Oh, you will, will you?" his face morphed into a feral grin. "I doubt it."

"I wouldn't." Mac snarled. His fists clenched at his sides and he slipped into a slight fighting stance. The air around him began to crackle and hiss, causing Murdoc's smugness to falter a moment. However, the Goa'uld remained rooted to his spot ten feet from the twins. "You have no idea what we are capable of, Murdoc."

"Nothing more than what I have already seen." Was Murdoc's haughty reply, the grin was back in place.

Jack took a step forward and watched as Murdoc reigned in a flinch. His knees bent and his hands went out to the sides. He sneered. "Duck."

Before Murdoc knew what was happening, a blazing hot beam of fire was hurled towards him. His eyes went wide and he hit the deck faster than anyone Mac had ever seen. The Goa'uld let out an in human roar and climbed to his feet. His eyes flashed an angry yellow and he raised his right hand. The red jewel of the hand device flashed menacingly in the semi-darkness of the barn.

A circular wave of energy was hurled towards Jack and MacGyver, causing the two to jump out of the way. Wooden barrels and crates splintered into hundreds of pieces and the hay loft above their heads was split in half. Jack rolled up onto his feet and threw another beam of fire at Murdoc, singeing the opposite wall off the barn.

"Dad!" Sean shouted, hearing the chaos and the voices.

"Sam!" Mac called back, his voice sounding desperate. "Just hang on! I'm gonna get you outta here!"

"Hurry!" Sean began to feel around for something, anything, to help him get the ropes off of his hands.

"Oh, don't worry young MacGyver," Murdoc's duo-toned voice was barely audible over the sound of flames impacting his personal shield, "you won't have to wait much longer!"

"Says you, snakehead!" Jack yelled, he shot off another blast of fire, but it too bounced harmlessly off Murdoc's shield. His teeth clenched and he lowered his right hand. His fingertips brushed the hilt of his field knife. Slowly, he popped the button. He grasped the hilt between his first two fingers and his thumb. Jack sneered and drew the knife, holding it by the blade. "Kiss my ass!"

O'Neill drew back the knife and expertly let it fly towards Ptah's outstretched hand device arm. The knife embedded itself into the red crystal of the hand device. Ptah howled from the pain. His eyes flared gold. He reached up his left hand and grasped the hilt of the knife. His face was twisted in insanity and pain as he pulled the knife out of his hand.

"You think this will stop me?" Ptah laughed darkly. "You are sadly mistaken."

"No, Ptah," Mac held up his right hand. In it, was a glowing white ball of energy, "you are."

MacGyver drew back his arm, and with and almightily yell, hurled the ball of energy at the stunned Ptah. The Goa'uld's eyes widened in fear as the ball of energy came flying towards him. Time seemed to slow to a crawl. The ball inched its way to Ptah's stunned face. Mac saw the room moving in slow motion, even the debris was falling slower than time itself.

Suddenly, like a rubber band, time accelerated, snapping back into itself. The ball of energy impacted Murdoc directly in his face and the Goa'uld flew head over heels through the barn wall behind him, sending wood splinters and hay everywhere. Sean yelped in surprise as debris rained down on his head. He rolled to the side as a wooden beam came crashing down where he was just sitting.

Jack raced over to the hole in the barn wall and looked out. Ptah was lying in the dirt unnaturally still. His head was entirely blown away; all that remained was a mangled, badly burned, corpse. There was nothing of the man's brain or the symbiote left. There greatest enemy was reduced to a hunk of burning and charred flesh. He was nothing now.

O'Neill sniffed in a breath and stepped through the hole in the wall and out onto the Colorado plains. He walked to where Murdoc's head used to be. He starred unflinchingly down at the body, unmoved by the smell of burning flesh or the blood and tissues splattered all over the ground. This was what he had wanted to see ever since he'd met Murdoc. This was everything he had fought for. His mission was complete.

"Jack." Mac called softly. He had his arm around his son's shoulder and the two where standing at the gaping hole in the barn wall. "C'mon. We should go. It's been a long day."

"Tell me about it." O'Neill muttered mechanically. He tore his eyes away from the sight of Ptah's destroyed body. He turned his eyes to his nephew and brother. "Let's go home, Mac. All of us."

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Well, was it satisfing, or no? Did ya like the ending or hate it? Tell me what ya think please! And I have to say the idea of a sequel is dancing around my brain but I'm not sure what to do with it. I want to write one but I can't come up with a plot. Drop suggestions when you leave a review. Review!

THE END!!!!!!!


	11. Epilouge

Yeah...anyway, I know I said this was done, and it is. I just felt the need to add and epilouge. It's not big, but I think it does the job. Tell me what ya think!

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EPILOUGE

TWO WEEKS LATER

"Hey, c'mon already!" Sean called from the living room of his uncle's house. "If you don't hurry we're going to be late!"

"S'not my fault!" Jack walked down the hallway with is hands up in a classic gesture of surrender. "Your Dad is the one who's holdin' up the party."

"Hardly," Mac walked past Jack with a grin on his face, "I don't have a gun."

Sean laughed. Jack tossed MacGyver a distinctly dirty look. "Cute, Mac."

Mac looked smug. "I thought so too."

Jack's eyes narrowed and he turned to square off against his brother. "Oh, really?"

"Guys!" Sean interrupted, his hands were on his hips and he alternated between glaring at his father and then Jack. "We need to leave. Now. The rest of Uncle Jack's team is waiting for us at the theater. You know how Murray gets if he even misses so much as one preview. C'mon, we gotta go!"

Jack rolled his eyes but nonetheless followed after his nephew and brother. Yeah, it had been a good two weeks. A really good two weeks. The best damn two weeks he'd ever had since he was a kid. It was like his father had never died. Things were back to normal. Mostly. Well, if you didn't count the fact that his brother was working at the SGC assigned to the Science Division.

Though, after they had explained a few things to Carter, Daniel and Teal'c, everything seemed to run smoother. If you didn't count Carter's constant nagging to come by her lab and do a few tests. All in all, things turned out okay. He'd even managed to keep the nightmares at bay, mostly. Mac was back, Sean was with him, and the SGC was running smoothly.

What more could a guy want? Well, besides to get to the movie on time…

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Yup. That's all she wrote. I have no idea if I want to do a sequel or not. I just can't think of any good ideas. None whatsoever, this story just seems...finished. Well, review, one last time, for old time's sake!

Thanks for reading,

Jonic Recheio


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